Dump the dollar! Buy gold!

You know I have been seeing more of these commercials lately urging us to invest in more Gold, especially on Fox but that's not exactly the only place you can find them. You might see a commercial with either G. Gordon Liddy or Dan Florek (you might know him from Law & Order as Capt. Don Cragen).

Anyway this article is about Chris Pia, this article talks a lot about his background in trading and then offer's his picks on both the US Dollar and Gold:

The dollar: Down 10% vs. euro

Pia predicts that the dollar will take a double hit: First, China and other Asian exporters to the U.S. are already maxed out on dollar reserves from the ever-rising sales of their exports and the interest on the Treasuries they've been buying with their dollars. In addition, those exporters will diversify into gold and the euro as they fret about U.S. inflation.

Gold: To $1,300+ an ounce

Pia now sees gold as a smart play during both market crises and booms when investors think stocks are overvalued. Other drivers include central banks' decreasing their dollars as a reserve currency in favor of bullion (as India did in early November), and gold's populist appeal: "Joe Investor understands gold much better than, say, IBM stock."

Oil: $70 - $100 a barrel

Cheap oil no longer equals a healthy economy: "Oil now goes up with stocks, and prices rise with growth," says Pia. He predicts that oil will swing between $70 and $100 a barrel, so investors should buy it toward the low end of that range and exit as soon as prices hit triple digits. "At $100," says Pia, "rig and pipeline construction booms. New oil supply comes out of the woodwork, and prices fall sharply."

I added oil just because. I hope that I can own some gold. Well there are many that hopes that the US Government will once again adopt the gold standard. Even better, I think I should be able to make purchases with gold. We'll see.

Most effective President

I was watching this 10 year old C-Span video of a call-in segment where callers who discuss who they believed was the most effective President. This was sort of a conclusion to a series where C-Span explores the lives and careers of the 41 Presidents of the United States. In fact you can visit their website @ http://www.americanpresidents.org/. There you can see most of the segments and this series was produced before the end of the Clinton Administration thus there are no programs for Presidents Bush and Obama's presidency is so young, yet!

The answers from callers ran the gamut from Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln (but, of course), George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Thomas Jefferson or Richard Nixon. Those answers weren't very bad answers, btw. In fact I would agree with most of them.

My answer, well most of the Presidents of my lifetime I couldn't necessarily see as very effective. I don't think Clinton was very effective. George W. Bush was probably more effective especially in terms of national defense and the fight against terrorism, but he wasn't without his problems. I know a lot of people like Reagan, but he also wasn't without his problems. He may have spurred economic growth and took the fight to the Soviet Union, but it's difficult for me to place it's eventual downfall as a result of his policies.

Nixon as one caller mentioned was effective, however he also wasn't without his problems. Those problems may have lead to his downfall in the middle of his second term. But he was pretty good in diplomacy especially in seeking relations with Communist China. Who knows Nixon's skills are missed in terms of figuring out how to deal with Muslim nations and on the situation in Afghanistan as things are heating up once again in that nation.

And finally let's point to Lyndon Johnson. He was very effective in domestic policy, whether you agree with it or not. He got a lot of things done in that area, however, his problems were in the area of military policy and foreign affairs. President Johnson before he left the Presidency was unable to secure the peace in Vietnam. It seems Vietnamese Communists were some very resilient adversaries and it wasn't so easy to defeat them. Any president who might have had to deal with them might have been kept up late at night by any persistent fighting. So whatever accomplishment Johnson might have had in domestic policy, it was sort of shoved aside by his activities in Vietnam.

Who do you think was the most effective President?

China cold open: Obama gets blasted by SNL

I saw this on Washington Journal this morning (or was it C-Span Newsmakers?) either way they showed this from last night's episode of SNL. This is kind of a slam at the cliche that we're only owing China more money for our debt. Especially since the current administration is spending money on stimulus and seeking to take on the health care system.

On finances in the states

Almost a week ago I ran across this Wall Street Journal column at Instapundit regarding the dire straits of state finances in both Michigan and California. Both of those states have well reported problems. In Michigan we see some evidence of how well that state is doing by looking in part at Detroit as we did on Friday.

I wasn't going to excerpt, but let's look at California:

As of July 2009, California's budget shortfall was 49.3% of its general funds. States have considered drastic options to fill such gaps.

"I looked as hard as I could at how states could declare bankruptcy," said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance who is stepping down at the end of the year. "I literally looked at the federal constitution to see if there was a way for states to return to territory status."

There were no bankruptcy options, and the legislature chose to cut back sharply on education and health care to fill the gap. Mr. Genest already predicts the 2011 shortfall will outpace the projected $7 billion gap. It is a smaller deficit than this year's gap, but the choices will be more difficult because so many cuts have already been made.

Mr. Genest estimated that, eventually, 40% of the state's budget would go to the state Medicaid program, 40% to education, 10% to debt service and 6% to retiree medical services and pension—leaving little left for anything else, such as the state's corrections system.

You know I've heard this a lot of states are putting a lot of money into Medicaid or Medicare and it's literally eating budgets.

What about Michigan:

Mr. Bean described a similarly depressing scenario for Michigan, which could end the recession with 25% fewer jobs than in June 2000 and a total of one million job losses. Michigan's unemployment rate in September was 15.3%.

He suggested that strict term limits often lead to political gridlock that prevents large-scale changes, such as overhauling the tax code so it is broad-based with lower tax rates. Mr. Bean said lawmakers will likely have to trim the budget at least 12.5% this year after closing a $2.8 billion gap last year.

"Citizens don't quite understand yet the implications of some of the cuts that we've made," Mr. Bean said. "A lot of it has fallen on local governments. I am very concerned that we're going to have a lot of insolvencies in local governments."

Via Newsalert there was a Rasmussen report on how New Yorkers view their budget deficit:

New York voters aren’t very optimistic about the financial solvency of their state, but they're also sending their elected representatives mixed signals. They oppose budget cuts in a couple key areas but are against tax hikes even more.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 56% of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that New York will be bankrupt by the end of the year. Twenty-one percent (21%) say it is very likely.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe that outcome is unlikely, but only nine percent (9%) say it is not at all likely.

An overwhelming 81% of say the bigger problem in New York State today is not that voters are unwilling to pay enough in taxes but that politicians are unwilling to control government spending. Just eight percent (8%) think the bigger problem is voter unwillingness to pay enough taxes.

Sometimes it's great to look at what other states are doing to work with this current economic environment. There are some states who are managing better than others, but it's also important to note the political conditions.

We see some evidence of that in Michigan, term limits lead to gridlock according to that state's finance director. In California, it may be state leader's unwillingness to do anything about their generous public pensions.

To be sure public pensions are an issue here. Illinois is either too generous with the pensions or it's underfunded. Of course that's not the only issue here. The bottom line is politicos this could be any state or even in the Federal government are unwilling to make the very difficult decisions.

Unburied bodies tell the tale of Detroit — a city in despair

This evening we're going to vicariously take another trip to Detroit. We've been taking momentary journeys there as of late this year since I paid a visit to this struggling city this past summer. In addition to that we've looked at the politics of the city although recently we haven't taken a very close look at Detroit politics.

In Chicago there has been a debate over the transport of dead bodies, but Detroit has the problem of unclaimed corpses:

The abandoned corpses, in white body bags with number tags tied to each toe, lie one above the other on steel racks inside a giant freezer in Detroit’s central mortuary, like discarded shoes in the back of a wardrobe.

Some have lain here for years, but in recent months the number of unclaimed bodies has reached a record high. For in this city that once symbolised the American Dream many cannot even afford to bury their dead.

“I have not seen this many unclaimed bodies in 13 years on the job,” said Albert Samuels, chief investigator at the mortuary. “It started happening when the economy went south last year. I have never seen this many people struggling to give people their last resting place.”

Unburied bodies piling up in the city mortuary — it reached 70 earlier this year — is the latest and perhaps most appalling indignity to be heaped on the people of Detroit. The motor city that once boasted the highest median income and home ownership rate in the US is today in the midst of a long and agonising death spiral.

Hmmm, they used to have pauper graves don't they. For those who can't afford the services of an undertaker:

Then in June, the $21,000 annual county budget to bury Detroit’s unclaimed bodies ran out. Until then, if a family confirmed that they could not afford to lay a loved one to rest, Wayne County — in which Detroit sits — would, for $700, bury the body in a rough pine casket at a nearby cemetery, under a marker.

Darrell Vickers had to identify his aunt at the mortuary in September but he could not afford to bury her as he was unemployed. When his grandmother recently died, Mr Vickers’s father paid for her cremation, but with a credit card at 21 per cent interest. He said at the time it was “devastating” to not be able to bury his aunt.

What has alarmed medical examiners at the mortuary is that most of the dead died of natural causes. It is evidence, they believe, of people who could not afford medical insurance and medicines and whose families can now not afford to bury them.

That last paragraph. Making a case for universal health care? We're living in some unusual times, ultimately they will get better. Economic cycles are cyclical, even though Detroit has been struggling for years. Even then times weren't this difficult where a municipality or a government hasn't been able to bury bodies of people who are unable to afford the services of an undertaker.

Hat-tip Newsalert!

Thoughts upon watching author T.R. Reid on C-Span this morning

That segment lasted close to 45 minutes on Washington Journal this morning was certainly thought provoking. Health care was the hot debate starting in the summer and it's still hotly debate as the US Senate is to take on this subject after the House of Representatives passed a bill in an historical vote close to two weeks ago.

I've come to my own conclusions regarding health-care based on merely my own needs and perhaps something that is generally accepted. My own need is that I have no problem paying out of pocket for a check-up. That is I should be able to spend my money to go to a regular physician, dentist, or optometrist. Another thing that is generally accepted by the public at large or experts is that we need to find a way to lower costs in the health care system.

In general, I'm opposed to universal health care or the public option or even any kind of plan that involves government paying for health care. But it's not too hard to disagree with T.R. Reid in his new book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, about health care to say that perhaps the American system of health care is disjointed.

See we operate mainly on a system of private health care similar to what may exist in France in Germany. We also operate a system similar to that which exist in Cuba or United Kingdom (UK). We also operate a system that exist in Canada. Finally we also have a system similar to what exists in third-world nations such as India.

What does this all mean? Well France and Germany mainly have a system of private healthcare or insurance. In Cuba or UK the system is primarily provided by the government and you get no bill, with that in mind you would have to be a veteran to have that type of system.

If you're 65 and older and you get Medicare then you have a system similar to what you get in Canada. That is there are private hospitals, but the government provides the insurance. So apparently while there are those who want the Canadian healthcare system replicated here, it already does just for the elderly. The difference is that there are those who want that for everybody.

Finally if you can only utilize a public hospital for care or otherwise have to pay out of pocket for care then you have a system similar to what exists in a nation such as India, which is considered a developing nation. It may well determine the type of care you recieve which is whether or not you can pay. If you are poor and you can't afford the care, then there's a good chance you'll go without.

In watching that portion of Washington Journal with T.R. Reid, well I came to a conclusion. I'm not certain it's his, but I should beg the question. Perhaps our system isn't working very well because it's so disjointed. Perhaps instead of one health care system we have four or we have 50. Every state has their own regulation for health care. This could be a reason why health care for many is so expensive, and you have callers to C-Span this morning talking about their experiences with health insurance.

That is some patients have lost their health insurance. Insurance companies sit on critical paperwork that causes some patients to not receive their necessary treatment. Or even the often stated refrain that some patients have died or suffered needlessly because they couldn't afford to get treatment earlier for their symptoms.

I know I said a mouthful, but this morning T.R. Reid talked about those things and there were other issues at play. Such as lowering costs by reducing tuition for medical school. It seems like a bit of an economics problem when you think about it. How does reducing the cost of a medical education for aspiring doctors contribute to the cost of healthcare?

Either way at the very least while Reid doesn't rule out universal health care. What he seeks is a solution that is more affordable. It could be a government provided universal health care system or a mostly private insurance system. He suggested Japan as an example of a good private insurance system with the main idea being that prices are very low there.

Reid suggests that we should consider taking the best ideas from around the world to make a better system here. It may not be smart to hold steadfast to oppose any health care reform because of the fears of any type of government takeover of health care. But what is necessary is to know that there are problems with the system as it exists currently. What is prudent here is to take the best ideas from those places that have provided health care in the best way.

Besides in Reid's book, he dedicated it to President Eisenhower. Eisenhower, who was a five-star Army General during the Second World War, saw the the system of highways (autobahn) built by the Germans. The Germans provided a template for the Interstate highway system that was built in earnest during the Eisenhower administration. Reid's purpose he says was defensive. To deflect criticism onto him that him using other health care systems around the world is somehow "un-American". At the same time the Interstate highway system wasn't entirely an American invention.

Finally, I have no problem with the idea of health care as a commodity. It seems the emphasis with T. R. Reid was to remove profit and I don't necessarily agree with that. Besides the best doctors should be rewarded if they do the best job for their patients. What I don't disagree with is that there has to be ways to lower costs and make the cost of health care more affordable for the patients.

I would recommend his book, but I have to buy it and read it first. Before rejecting any of his arguments I would like to give them some though and attempt to get some understanding of some of the world's health care systems. Reid does say that members of Congress are reading his book, but he says that his book has NO policy impact. And that's reflected in the health care bills that are currently under debate in Congress currently.

Three Mississippi HBCUs could be consolidated

This is news! Alcorn State and Jackson State Universities are rather well known HBCUs. Can't really say that about Mississippi Valley State (MSVU), the only thing I know about that school is that I have two relatives as alumnus from that school.

This almost reminds me of a story out of Georgia, where the state government there wanted to merge public HBCUs not with other public HBCUs, but with other more majority public universities. Unfortunately it's just the sign of the times state governments are stuggling right now. Some states are doing better than others, but in those that aren't doing well, they have to consider consolidating services or cutting them.

That's what was going on in Georgia and Mississippi. The thing is in this article there may be some serious opposition from Alcorn Alumni at least. This story however indicates that these three aforementioned HBCUs will be merged amongst each other. It looks like Jackson State University may have satelite campuses that consist of Alcorn and MSVU campuses. It's just that those two universities will likely have to give up their individual identity, they will no longer have their individual athletic programs.

With Jackson State however, there is one benefit for them:

[Miss. Gov. Haley] Barbour said the mergers will also elevate Jackson State as a premier historically black college and urban university.

But what would that say about Alcorn and MVSU? What about those communities that surround those universities? Jackson State may benefit by acquiring scholars from those other schools and the works of those scholars. Perhaps there will be an increase in enrollment for Jackson State University because what was once three choices is now one. I can't say for certain.

It can be said that some alumni will have some problem with this proposal in spite of this environment:

Although the governor said it will save millions of dollars for the state, some Alcorn students past and present said it'll destroy a priceless legacy. Lawmakers would have to approve the governor's plan to merge the schools before it happens. The governor said the plan may not be popular, but it's necessary to help balance the 2011 budget as revenues continue to fall. "It would be like stripping us of part of our culture and out heritage and our camaraderie," said Alcorn graduate John Smith.

Smith graduated from ASU in 1999. He was a football player. He said news of merger upset him.

"That would kill the legacies left behind by the Steve McNairs, the Walter Peytons, the Issac Holts, the Jerry Rices," Smith said.
...
Universities that could be affected responded to the news.

"The Alcorn State University National Alumni Association will vehemently oppose any proposal that will include the merger of our beloved Alcorn State University," said ASU National Alumni Association president James McDonald.

"We will fight against merger and closure and will work to secure the funding and support necessary to keep it independent and healthy while honoring its mission," said Friends of the W.

The choices states have to make in this environment. Especially in terms of financial viability. This will have to be either cut or consolidated. There would be much help from Uncle Same right now. As a result three historic Black colleges may have their futures altered thanks to this current financial environment.

The Southern Avenger - Selective "Hate"

Do some people treat one ideology as more dangerous than others? That's what the Southern Avenger attempts to explore. Bouncing off of the shooting from Ft. Hood, Texas Army Base.

Michael Scott, President of the Chicago School Board, commits suicide

This morning I fired up my PC and found some horrible news about Michael Scott. He had been found dead in the Chicago River near the Merchandise Mart this morning. In February, Scott was re-appointed as President of the Chicago Board of Education. He also held that title from 2001 to 2006

At first via Chicago Breaking News, the report was that Scott was tentatively identified as the body that was pulled out of the Chicago River (excerpted accordingly at The 6th's Blog). It was also reported that his Cadillac was parked in that area and his cell phone was used to trace the late school board president. I could have only hoped that it wasn't him, but the evidence reported in the media seems very clear.

An autopsy reported that Scott has committed suicide. A gun was found near his body as well only confirming the worst about what happened.

Now when I found this out I thought one of two things foul play or suicide. I hoped neither and that he may have been around somewhere, because the other conclusions would be troubling.

Being a public official as Scott has been is certainly a pressure cooker to say the least. Right now a lot of people are speculating on what troubled Scott. Was it corruption in city politics or were there trouble at the city schools that had him depressed?

I get the idea at this moment that we may never know what caused him to take his own life. Hopefully we'll know more in the coming days about what led up to his suicide. It wouldn't surprise me that his family will talk about any depression that he may have had and bring further awareness. It also shouldn't surprise me that he may have talked about some things that may have trouble him about Chicago politics and the behind the scenes issues at the public schools.

My thoughts are with his family for whatever led up to this. I also know seeing some tweets on this subject (largely posted at The 6th's Twitter). There will be a lot of speculation some of it not very truthful or even downright horrible. But I expect that we will know more in the near future or at least I hope so.

BTW, I was working on this post over the weekend regarding a mother's fight to transfer a son to another school. This young man was attending Fenger High School and his mother kept him at home for three weeks, especially in light of incidents that could have been troublesome for him. Well this news puts this on the backburner!

Charles Payne visits his old Manhattan neighborhood

Visits with radio & TV personality Glenn Beck (he just so happens to be on FOX News Channel). Charles Payne is a frequent guest on FOX's Glenn Beck show and yesterday Beck and Payne visited Harlem where Payne grew up. Payne talked a lot about his young life and how he wanted to be a businessman, a vision not shared by his peers and they made him suffer for it. Of course one can only wonder where his peers are today.

Well he shouldn't have to waste time on it. He's on TV and has his own business so take that to those of you who decided to make his life difficult because he had his own vision divergent from Payne's. Believe it or not it's a story you hear about, young people from the ghetto has visions of going to college and making it in life.

At the same time you have to deal with people who have great uncertainty about their own lives that they aren't able to imagine that anyone has a positive vision for where they want to go. So they may make fun of you for doing what it takes to be successful. I've heard that people were made fun of for making excellent grades, speaking proper English. Beating someone up for that is an extreme, but it shouldn't surprise me because there are those who are into intimidation.

In Charles Payne's case he was happy to have gotten a briefcase as a gift and someone decided to bust it open. Does this make sense to anyone? Someone who knew him did that probably. It could've been an accident, but also out of "hate". That being who does he think he is with that briefcase!

The one aspect of this video I want to address is at 4:35 into this video where he talks about voting for Obama out of obligation for Civil Rights heros such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, or Medgar Evers. Then expresses his disappointment in President Obama.

I'm much younger than Payne and I don't have a great connection with the Civil Rights movement and who knows it would have influence me if I did have that connection. However, it forced me to confront why I chose not to cast a ballot for the President last November. Would it be right to cast a ballot for those Civil Rights leaders? Would it be an insult to them if I voted for someone who I felt wasn't "qualified" to be President?

I put qualified in quotes because I'm putting my own spin on it. Obama fits the general requirements for the presidency (although some may still believe the controversy over his birth certificate), but for me I wanted to see a little more than his time as a community organizer, a state Senator, or even a very brief time in the US Senate. I wanted some indication of leadership experience that I wasn't seeing from Obama, even if he was leading a winning Presidential campaign. Not sure that takes much leadership if you got a great team around you.

I believe that before he ran for the Presidency he was the chair of a foreign policy sub-committee that had never held a hearing. That could've been some leadership experience but sadly he neglected that one possibility. Of course we couldn't have known that at the time. He generated a certain excitement that may not have been seen in politics for a long time and he's still generate a certain passion either in support of him or opposed to him. Although it seems the passion is opposed to him.

Either way, I didn't want to vote for him based on this dream of a black President. I wanted to vote for the best man for the job and I felt that Obama wasn't it, but don't get me wrong there were some things I admired about him. I admired that he generated some passion towards him and had charisma the ability to draw people to him. That wasn't enough for me to vote for him, but it certainly wasn't seen by me as a negative.

Of course I feel more justified in that opinion. He has another 3 years to turn things around and I'm not certain that he can. But no one can say that I or others who may not have been certain about what he'd do as President didn't give him a chance.

BTW, when you get the chance you should watch Beck's program geared towards Black Conservatives that aired yesterday. I would also refer you to another Beck segment filmed in Harlem where he talks to a Black Marine who believes that Obama is unfit to be Commander in Chief.

State's Attorney wrongly takes on student journalist

Hmmm, there was trouble I thought last year when she was on the cable access TV program Public Affairs she said that no one should buy guns and that we're safer without them. She was mentioned in a recent article regarding an Illinois Supreme Court ruling about having guns in your car. She really doesn't trust people with guns.

Today she turns her attention to Northwestern University journalism students:

The story involves Anthony McKinney, who has been in prison for more than 30 years for gunning down a security guard.

McKinney wants his freedom, arguing he's innocent, based on evidence gathered by journalism students at the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.

Alvarez wants all the students' notes and materials, as well as their class grades, to see if they skewed their reporting for better grades.

Her prosecutors also allege the students paid for witness statements, an allegation the young journalists firmly deny.

But Alvarez is guilty of trying to do an end run around a key right for reporters.

In Illinois, there's the Illinois Reporter's Privilege Act. Because of the act, a prosecutor must jump through several high hoops before a judge will allow access to a reporter's source materials.

She a Latina woman who was the first to be elected Cook County States Attorney. She had two things going for her if no one was really impressed by her background as a prosecutor for the Cook County State's Attorney. She was a woman and a Latino. That works for a lot of people especially if they want to see more Latinos or women in offices like these.

Unfortunately one wonders if she just realized the powers of her office and is a little to eager to use them.

Via CapFax morning shorts.

SNL on FOX News

SNL having fun at FOX News' expense. Not the first time, but it certainly won't be the last. Especially since FOX News Channel is easily identified as a right-wing, conservative, Republican leaning media outlet.

I know I'm behind the curve on this one. This has been the talk since this aired last Saturday. Bill O'Reilly talked about this on his program on Monday I believe.

Veteran's Day November 2009 in DC

From Reason. Showing our World War 2 veteran taking a tour of the memorials in Washington, DC thanks to a group called Honor Flight. Honor Flight flies elderly veterans and terminally ill veterans to Washington free of charge. Many of them may have had their last trip away from home!

Happy Veteran's Day for all of our veterans and thanks for your courage!